Once upon a time, there were two monks, one is rich and the other is poor. They both aspired to visit a divine temple in the southern sea. The rich monk began to prepare for boat,food and all the other things that might be needed for the long trip. The poor monk just left with an alms bowl.
Years after, when the poor monk came back from the divine temple, the rich monk was still preparing for the trip. The rich monk was thinking if I had this one thing prepared, I should be ready for the trip, but there was always one more thing that needed to be prepared or planned. As time goes by, with all the other daily distractions from life, the rich monk was starting to think that the trip might be too ambitious for him and he eventually gave up.
Whether it is to do a startup, to write a book, to travel, to change jobs, or to make other important decisions in life, how many times have we thought if we have X,Y and Z prepared, we should be ready to get started? And how many times have we actually got started?
We often fall into the trap of over-preparation when it is actually another form of hidden procrastination. Our worries are usually exaggerated and our grand plans are usually not required.
But the story can go another way. What if the under-prepared monk ran into trouble and didn’t achieve his goal while the rich monk finally succeeded with his extremely detailed, all-encompassing, grand plans?
The answer depends on the validity of the assumptions made. Our plan works when we execute it in a repetitive and predictable environment. But when the future is uncertain or it is something that we haven’t done before, our untested assumptions of what is needed are usually biased and exaggerated. As a result, we tend to delay or avoid making important changes in life.
So next time when you think you need this and that in order to start doing something, ask yourself: are these absolutely required ? Are your assumptions real or imagined ? Are there ways to test them?
Life is short. Leave no regrets.
